The first generation of video game consoles (1972–1977) were the first consoles in the history of video games. They were dedicated consoles that had built-in games rather than cartridges, and they used discrete logic in the form of transistor–transistor logic (TTL) rather than microprocessors. The first generation includes the Magnavox Odyssey, Home Pong, Coleco Telstar, Nintendo Color TV Game, and other consoles.
Sales figures[]
Console | Company | Year | Sales | As of | Market | Launch price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominal | Inflation | ||||||
Color TV Game | Nintendo | 3,031,000 | 1979 | ||||
Color TV-Game 6 | Nintendo | 1977 | 1,000,000[1][2] | 1978 | Japan | $36[3] | $170 |
TV Fun Color Model 601 | Tomy | 1977 | 11,000[4] | 1978 | Japan | $36[5] | $170 |
Sharp Color TV Game | Sharp | 1977 | 20,000[4] | 1978 | Japan | $36[5] | $170 |
Color TV-Game 15 | Nintendo | 1977 | 1,000,000[1][2] | 1979 | Japan | $56[6] | $270 |
Color TV-Racing 112 | Nintendo | 1978 | 500,000[1] | 1979 | Japan | $57[7] | $260 |
Color TV-Block Kuzushi | Nintendo | 1979 | 500,000[1] | 1979 | Japan | $62[8] | $250 |
Epoch consoles | Epoch | 3,000,000[9] | 1981 | ||||
TV Tennis Electrotennis | Epoch | 1975 | 90,000 | 1978 | Japan | $66[10] | $340 |
Video Game VG-104 | Hitachi | 1977 | 10,000[11] | 1978 | Japan | $92[4] | $440 |
TV Game System 10 | Epoch / NEC | 1977 | 200,000[12] | 1978 | Japan | $58[13] | $280 |
Epoch TV Baseball | Epoch | 1978 | 230,000[12] | 1978 | Japan | $88[14] | $390 |
Atari consoles | Atari | 1,500,000[15] | 1978 | ||||
Tele-Games Pong | Sears | 1975 | 150,000[16][17] | 1975 | NA | $98.95[18] | $540 |
Home Pong | Atari | 1975 | 50,000[19][20] | 1976 | NA | $98.95[18] | $540 |
C-100 | Toyo Bussan | 1977 | 3,000[4] | 1978 | Japan | $93[4] | $450 |
Coleco Telstar series | Coleco | 1,000,000[21] | 1979 | ||||
Coleco Telstar | Coleco | 1976 | 300,000[22] | 1979 | NA | $50[21] | $260 |
Odyssey series | Magnavox | 500,000[23] | 1976 | ||||
Magnavox Odyssey | Magnavox | 1972 | 367,000[24] | 1975 | NA | $99.95[25] | $700 |
Odyssey 100 | Magnavox | 1975 | 133,000[23] | 1975 | NA | $99.95[26] | $540 |
Odyssey 200 | Magnavox | 1975 | 1975 | NA | $129.95[27] | $710 | |
Shooting Gallery | Nintendo | 1972 | 20,000[28][29] | 1975 | NA | $25[30] | $170 |
APF TV Fun series | APF | 400,000[31] | 1977 | ||||
APF TV Fun Model 401 | APF | 1976 | 200,000 | 1977 | NA | $90[32] | $430 |
APF TV Fun Model 402 | APF | 1976 | 200,000 | 1977 | NA | $90[32] | $430 |
Fuji consoles | Fuji Electric | 33,000 | 1978 | ||||
TV-Game Sportstron | Fuji Electric | 1977 | 25,000[4] | 1978 | Japan | $28[4] | $140 |
Video Family G5500 | Todaka | 1977 | 3,000[4] | 1978 | Japan | $36[4] | $170 |
Video Fighter G2200 | Fuji Electric | 1977 | 5,000[4] | 1978 | Japan | $36[4] | $170 |
Other consoles | 61,000 | ||||||
Takatoku TUG | Takatoku Toys | 1977 | 30,000[4] | 1978 | Japan | $93[4] | $450 |
Name Of The Game | Allied's | 1976 | 16,000[33][34] | 1978 | NA | $67[34] | $340 |
Lion TV Game[n 1] | Lion | 1977 | 9,000[4] | 1978 | Japan | N/A | N/A |
TY-TG40 | Matsushita | 1977 | 5,000[4] | 1978 | Japan | $92[4] | $440 |
Tennis Game Machine[n 2] | Packel[n 3] | 1975 | 1,000[4] | 1975 | Japan | $440[4] | $2,400 |
Total | 8,066,000 |
Sales history[]
Year | Sales | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Odyssey [35] | Epoch Tennis [12] | Atari Pong | Coleco Telstar [36] | Nintendo Color TV Game [1][12][37] | ||||||
Atari | Sears | Toyo | Game 6 | Game 15 | Racing | Kuzushi | ||||
1972 | 69,000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
1973 | 158,000 (+89,000) | |||||||||
1974 | 287,000 (+129,000) | |||||||||
1975 | 367,000 (+80,000)[24] |
10,000[38] | 50,000[19] | 150,000[16] | ||||||
1976 | 40,000 (+30,000) |
— | ||||||||
1977 | 90,000 (+50,000) |
— | 3,000[4] | 500,000 | 300,000 | |||||
1978 | 203,000 | 300,000[22] | 1,000,000 (+500,000) |
1,000,000 (+700,000) |
500,000 | |||||
1979 | 2,500,000 | 500,000 | ||||||||
1980 | 3,000,000 |
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Sheff, David; Eddy, Andy (1999), Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World, GamePress, p. 27, ISBN 978-0-9669617-0-6, "Nintendo entered the home market in Japan with the dramatic unveiling of Color TV Game 6, which played six versions of light tennis. It was followed by a more powerful sequel, Color TV Game 15. A million units of each were sold. The engineering team also came up with systems that played a more complex game, called "Blockbuster," as well as a racing game. Half a million units of these were sold."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Horowitz, Ken (2020-07-30). "Video Killed the Electromechanical Star". Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games. McFarland & Company. pp. 27. ISBN 978-1-4766-4176-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=UXD0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27.
- ↑ Nintendo Color TV-Game 6 (カラー テレビゲーム 6, 1977). Before Mario (April 9, 2011). Retrieved on May 8, 2020.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 The Ultimate Chronological Table of Japanese Home Videogame Systems (Japanese). Classic Videogame Station Odyssey (CVS Odyssey) (2013-07-13).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://infoconsolas.com/en/color-tv-game-block-kuzushi-nintendo-en/
- ↑ Nintendo Color TV-Game 15 (カラー テレビゲーム 15, 1977). Before Mario (January 22, 2012). Retrieved on May 8, 2020.
- ↑ Nintendo Color TV Game Racing 112 (任天堂 カラー テレビゲーム レーシング 112, 1978). Before Mario (May 28, 2011). Retrieved on May 8, 2020.
- ↑ Nintendo Color TV Game Block Kuzushi (任天堂 カラー テレビゲーム ブロック崩し, 1979). Before Mario (May 6, 2011). Retrieved on May 8, 2020.
- ↑ Retro-Gaming: Die allererste japanische Videospielkonsole feiert 40. Jubiläum (2019-01-22). Archived from the original on January 22, 2019.
- ↑ M.B. Mook (2016) (in ja). Perfect Guide of Nostalgic Family Computer. Tokyo: Magazine Box. pp. 99–100. ISBN 9784906735891. https://archive.org/details/atsukashiFC/page/n99/mode/2up.
- ↑ https://thegamescholar.com/2020/06/10/the-forgotten-epic/
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 昔(1970年代)のテレビゲームは何台売れた? (How many old (1970s) video games sold?) (Japanese). Classic Videogame Station Odyssey (CVS Odyssey) (2014-01-09). Archived from the original on 2023-11-02.
- ↑ https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/63203/Epoch-TV-Game-System-10/
- ↑ https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=2&c=798
- ↑ https://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/wci_games.html
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Ellis, David (2004). "Dedicated Consoles". Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games. Random House. pp. 33–36. ISBN 0-375-72038-3. https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi/page/33.
- ↑ Kent, Steven (2001). "Strange Bedfellows". Ultimate History of Video Games. Three Rivers Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Wish Book for the 1975 Christmas Season. Sears. 1975. pp. 412. http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1975_Sears_Wishbook/index.html#412.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Booth, John (27 June 2012). "Timeline: A Look Back at 40 Years of Atari". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2012/06/atari-40th-anniversary/.
- ↑ Baer, Ralph H. (2005). Videogames: In the Beginning. Rolenta Press. pp. 10–3. ISBN 978-0-9643848-1-1. https://archive.org/details/VideogamesInTheBeginningRalphH.Baer/page/n31/mode/2up.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Herman, Leonard (1997). Phoenix: the fall & rise of videogames (2nd ed.). Union, NJ: Rolenta Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-9643848-2-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=duITAQAAIAAJ. "Like Pong, Telstar could only play video tennis but it retailed at an inexpensive $50 that made it attractive to most families that were on a budget. Coleco managed to sell over a million units"
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Toy Industry Anticipates High Sales". The Windsor Star: p. 23. 12 February 1979. https://books.google.com/books?id=3FU_AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA23&article_id=3848,3907810. "Coleco first introduced its Telstar game computer in June, 1976, before other toy companies had turned to electronics. About 300,000 Telstar units have been sold since, Clarke said."
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 https://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com/tag/magnavox-odyssey/
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Smith, Alexander (November 27, 2019). They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry. 1: 1971 – 1982. CRC Press. pp. 207–9. ISBN 978-1-138-38990-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT204.
- ↑ Nowak, Peter (December 20, 2011) (in en). Sex, Bombs, and Burgers: How War, Pornography, and Fast Food Have Shaped Modern Technology. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 132. ISBN 9780762776108. https://books.google.com/books?id=OVWNBAAAQBAJ.
- ↑ "Buffums Advertisement". Pomona, California: Progress Bulletin. 1975-11-06. p. 3. https://archive.org/details/pomona-progress-bulletin-1975-11-06/page/n1/mode/2up?q=buffums+odyssey+100.
- ↑ "Ken Crane's Advertisement". Tele-Vues (Long Beach, California: Independent Press Telegram): p. 96. 1975-12-14. https://archive.org/details/independent-press-telegram-1975-12-14/page/n95/mode/2up?q=odyssey+200.
- ↑ Picard, Martin (December 2013). "The Foundation of Geemu: A Brief History of Early Japanese video games". Game Studies 13 (2). ISSN 1604-7982. https://gamestudies.org/1302/articles/picard.
- ↑ https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/92331-first-home-console-light-gun
- ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/06/01/odyssey-35-years-later
- ↑ "The Imagination Machine - Georgia State University News -". Georgia State News Hub. 15 March 2018. https://news.gsu.edu/2018/03/15/the-imagination-machine/.
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Video games. Put your backhand on TV, By Cindy Morgan, Popular Mechanics, Oct 1976, Page 80, Picture and listed in table: ...APF TV Fun / Price: $90 / Number of Players: 1-2 / .../ Color: no / ... / Remarks: Manual or auto-serve; ball angle selection...
- ↑ http://www.pong-story.com/allieds.htm
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/allied-leisures-name-of-game-home-video.html
- ↑ How Many Units Were Sold? Playing the Numbers Game with Video Games. The History of How We Play (2020-03-20).
- ↑ Herman, Leonard (1997). Phoenix: the fall & rise of videogames (2nd ed. ed.). Union, NJ: Rolenta Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-9643848-2-5. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=duITAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 16 February 2012. "Like Pong, Telstar could only play video tennis but it retailed at an inexpensive $50 that made it attractive to most families that were on a budget. Coleco managed to sell over a million units that year."
- ↑ http://kotaku.com/5785568/nintendos-first-console-is-one-youve-never-played
- ↑ Koyama, Yusuke (2023-06-02). History of the Japanese Video Game Industry. Springer Nature. pp. 41-2. ISBN 978-981-99-1342-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=uITCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA41.
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